Wednesday, December 30, 2009

POPE JOHN PAUL II, PIUS XII TAUGHT EX CATHEDRA INTERPRETATION OF EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS


Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII, Servant of God maintained the strict interpretation of the missionary dogma extra eclesiam nulla salus, outside the Church there is no salvation. Explicit entry into the Church, the Mystical Body of Jesus was obligatory for all people with no exception.

Pope Pius XII was precise and referred to the ‘dogma’ as the ‘infallible teaching’. (Letter of the Holy Office, Vatican 1949). Pope John Paul II expressed the same teaching in Dominus Iesus 20 and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Notification on Fr. Jacques Dupuis S.J in 2001(N.6,7), a year after Dominus Iesus was issued. They both affirmed the  ex cathedra dogma.

Here is the ex cathedra dogma referred to by Pope Pius XII.

• “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

• “We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

• “The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.) - from the website Catholicism.org and “No Salvation outside the Church”: Link List, the Three Dogmatic Statements Regarding EENS)
http://nosalvationoutsideofthecatholicchurch.blogspot.com/

Here is Pope John Paul II with the same message as the dogma.

20. From what has been stated above, some points follow that are necessary for theological reflection as it explores the relationship of the Church and the other religions to salvation.
Above all else, it must be firmly believed that “the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door”.77 This doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); “it is necessary to keep these two truths together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity of the Church for this salvation”.78 –Dominus Iesus (Emphasis added)
IV. On the orientation of all human beings to the Church

6. It must be firmly believed that the Church is sign and instrument of salvation for all people. It is contrary to the Catholic faith to consider the different religions of the world as ways of salvation complementary to the Church.
7. According to Catholic doctrine, the followers of other religions are oriented to the Church and are all called to become part of her. –Notification on Fr. Jacques Dupuis, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican. (Emphasis added)
55. Dialogue should be conducted and implemented with the conviction that the Church is the ordinary means of salvation and that she alone possesses the fullness of the means of salvation. - Redemptoris Missio (Emphasis added)

The dogma says the same:

• “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)
There are other teachings of Pope John Paul II which have the same message e.g. in the Catechism of the Catholic Church it is written the Catholic Church knows of no way to eternal beatitude other than the baptism of water, the Church is the only Ark of Noah that saves in the flood, God wants all people to be united in the Catholic Church etc.
However the Catechism also mentions that God is not limited to the Sacraments (CCC 1257).The Letter of the Holy Office approved by Pope Pius XII mentions implicit salvation in ‘certain circumstances’. This is in accord with Lumen Gentium 16, 20. In principle (de jure) a non Catholic can be saved without the Sacraments (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257). However at the de facto level, the level of personal contact, there can be no exceptions to the need of Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water for salvation for all people. (Dominus Iesus 20). There can be no exceptions known to us personally. We cannot say that a specific person has a genuine baptism of desire. Only Jesus can judge.

Hence the dogma states de facto


• “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

• “We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)
So when Fr. Leonard Feeney said that there is no baptism of desire he was referring  to de facto salvation. De jure there can be exceptions. De facto none.

Pope John Paul stated: de facto that the Church was ‘necessary for salvation’, it was the ‘instrument of salvation for all people’,’ the followers of other religions are oriented to the Church and are all called to become part of her.’ He emphasized ALL. He said the Church is the ordinary means of salvation and that she alone possesses the fullness of the means of salvation.

According to Wikipedia

In his encyclical Mystici Corporis, 103 Pope Pius XII said that "those who do not belong to the visible Body of the Catholic Church… We ask each and every one of them to correspond to the interior movements of grace, and to seek to withdraw from that state in which they cannot be secure about their salvation. [Cf. Pius IX, Iam Vos Omnes, 13 Sept. 1868] For even though by an unconscious desire and longing have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer, they still remain deprived of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can only be enjoyed in the Catholic Church."
The above passage is a reference to de jure salvation. If it was a reference to de facto salvation it would contradict the dogma, the infallible teaching with Pope Pius XII referred to. It would be contrary to the Principle of No Contradiction i.e. we cannot say that everybody needs to enter the Church with no exceptions and also say there are exceptions de facto to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

Wikipedia continues with its contradictory-error.

As indicated above, the Catholic Church rejects both Feeneyism and (by stating that "they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it") the contrary notion that one can be saved while knowingly and deliberately rejecting the Catholic Church.-Wikipedia
The Catholic Church rejects the bias of Wikipedia and affirms the dogma as interpreted ex cathedra by the popes and affirmed by Vatican Council II (Ad Gentes 7, Lumen Gentium 14)